Dallas City News

Padded practices are underway at Dallas Cowboys training camp in Oxnard this week, and with them has come an intense focus on the offensive and defensive lines. Players that wait all offseason without being able to show much of anything through OTAs, minicamp, and even the start of training camp are now making their case for roster spots or starting jobs – front and center (see what we did there?) being Brock Hoffman.

The Cowboys did not match Tyler Biadasz’ three-year deal given by the Commanders in free agency, losing a center that started 53 games over four years since 2020 as a fourth-round pick. Biadasz was a strong example that the Cowboys could find and develop offensive line talent outside of the first round, straying away from needing to field all premium draft picks up front ever since Travis Frederick’s retirement.

So far in Oxnard, the 2024 season could be an even bigger example of the Cowboys finding a valuable starter, as incumbent practice squad signee Brock Hoffman is the “leader in the clubhouse” to start according to observations from the team’s official website. Hoffman is earning this starting role over third-round draft pick Cooper Beebe, who played guard at Kansas State but is making the immediate switch to center much like first-round pick Tyler Guyton swinging from right tackle to left.

The battle at center is a different story, because Brock Hoffman is a difficult one to move out of that role — given his experience over Beebe, his work ethic and the fact Beebe is still working heavily on his shotgun snaps. The snaps can only improve with reps and he’ll continue to get them, but how quickly he can refine that skill will be the ultimate variable in determining if he’s the starting center against the Browns so, for now, it is in fact Hoffman’s spot to lose. There’s a lot of camp left, though. Stay tuned.

Nick Harris: Brock Hoffman has started off on the right foot in the center competition since the pads have come on. He’s stronger, he’s more technical and he’s more communicative than he was a year ago at the line, and you see that translating into on-field confidence with himself and Dak Prescott. Cooper Beebe is still very much learning the position and has had some inconsistencies with shotgun snapping, but you see the technical prowess that he brings as well. But as it stands, Brock Hoffman is the leader in the clubhouse.

Beebe has had some struggles in this transition, more so than Guyton, who the Cowboys are more dependent on given their existing depth at tackle. Beebe has had issues when it comes to snapping the ball cleanly out of shotgun.

Beebe’s upside as a great blocker in space that flashed the athleticism to chase down second- and third-level defenders to spring running backs for big gains at guard may not be fully realized in time for the Kansas State product to start Week 1 at a new position. Given Dallas’ need for players out of their latest draft class to help make a difference in this being more than just a strong regular-season team again, there is room for some mild concern that the last of their top-100 picks in Beebe has yet to take full reigns of a role that can help him make this difference in 2024.

However, for a team practicing in Oxnard with the taste of how 2023 ended – exposed at the hands of the Packers as one that didn’t bring along any of their rookies to change the dynamic of the team throughout a long season – what the Cowboys are seeing at not only center. but other positions in the trenches. is more encouraging. In a true example of iron sharpening iron, and their own player development deserving recognition, Hoffman has shown he’s up for the challenge of holding his own as a starting center partly by working against another player showing major improvement in 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith.

The Cowboys may very well need the athletic upside and technical prowess that Beebe offers at some point this season, mainly to unlock a run game that begins these padded practices in search of a lead back that can make explosive plays. More consistently finding big gains on the ground is vital for Mike McCarthy’s offense in year two, and there will be plenty of time for Beebe to factor into these plans even if he’s not the starter in Cleveland on September 8th.

Finding the right timing between offensive line and running back is very much a work in progress for Dallas right now given the amount of new faces at both positions, but this comes second to ensuring the fundamentals are executed in team drills with full contact, particularly keeping the quarterback clean where Hoffman is proving the more ready player at the moment.

Hoffman finds a way to hold his own in pass protection using leverage and a strong base even against bigger, more athletic rushers, and is taking more of a command over his place in the full scheme of the offense with more reps under his belt now.

It feels like forever ago that most of draft season was dominated by talks of the Cowboys being in the market for top centers like first-round pick Graham Barton or second-rounder Jackson Powers-Johnson, but like always the organization had a plan revolving around one of their own players taking the next step. Brock Hoffman has been the Cowboys first-team center since the start of camp, with each day only helping him gain a stronghold on the position. Without any obvious reasons for major concern about the rookie Beebe, center could be a surprise position of strength and depth for a Cowboys team that always seems to be at their best when the offensive line has these things in place.